WaferGen Biosystems, Inc.,
a leading developer of state-of-the-art gene expression, genotyping, cell biology
and stem cell research systems, today announced that the National Institutes
of Health (NIH) has awarded a team of researchers at University of Pittsburgh
an approximately $3 million grant to conduct novel gene expression research
in the area of lung disease involving WaferGen's SmartChip(TM) Real-Time PCR
System. This research team, led by Naftali Kaminski, M.D., Steven Shapiro, M.D.,
and Frank Sciurba, M.D., will apply gene expression profiling to lung samples
from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic
pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The researchers' goal is to identify and validate
disease relevant gene expression signatures and microenvironments, while also
generating relevant module maps of COPD and IPF that will help to characterize
the diseases and their underlying causes. WaferGen's SmartChip platform will
be used to validate the researcher's gene expression findings in the area of
lung disease.

Additionally, this NIH-funded research will include the development and application
of the PulmoSmartChip, a custom designed SmartChip molecular phenotyping assay
for COPD and IPF. The PulmoSmartChip, which will include the lowest number of
genes that distinguish all phenotypes of IPF and COPD, will be used to identify
and validate module networks capable of predicting the natural history of the
diseases and patients' response to specific therapeutics. Researchers at the
University of Pittsburgh believe that the availability of these modules, as
well as the validated PulmoSmartChip assay that allows their measurement using
parallel quantitative real-time PCR, will be a significant step in laying the
foundations for the introduction of personalized medicine approaches in pulmonary
medicine.

"The decision by the NIH to fund this important gene expression research
at the University of Pittsburgh represents a critical step for WaferGen and
our SmartChip platform. We are pleased by the decision made by our collaborators
at the University of Pittsburgh to involve the SmartChip Real- Time PCR System
in novel gene expression research projects," stated Alnoor Shivji, WaferGen's
chairman and chief executive officer. "The work related to the development
and use of the PulmoSmartChip is particularly exciting as it will seek to demonstrate
the inherent power of the SmartChip system in creating and utilizing custom
disease-specific gene expression assays. We anticipate that this cutting-edge
functionality, which we believe is reproducible and applicable across all disease
areas, will position the SmartChip system as the platform of choice for discovery
and validation of biomarkers."

The University of Pittsburgh is the first research institution to have access
to WaferGen's SmartChip Real-Time PCR System. This group is a key partner for
WaferGen as it oversees leading clinical and research programs in all major
lung diseases including COPD, IPF and asthma. These represent just a few of
the important disease indications for which the SmartChip Real-Time PCR system
can enable critical gene expression research.